Knoxville, Texas was an early settlement founded by the Norman family from Knoxville, Tennessee. I think it was Sam Norman (and father of Thomas Norman) that founded this town. According to TSHA (Texas State Historical Association) Knoxville, Texas was founded by immigrants from Tennessee in the late 1840s. In 1854 Thomas Norman sold 2/3 interest of the land to William Pope and Archibald Carmichael. Later in 1854 a post office opened and Knoxville became a town in Cherokee County, Texas. Also in 1854 William Pope opened a general store. During the US Civil War Knoxville had four general stores, a gristmill, sawmill, distillery (for whiskey sold in general stores), tanyard, and a church that served several denominations. In the early 1870s the railroad bypassed Knoxville; and in 1875 the post office closed. The cemetery is all ... read more

Independence day is a good time for us locals to enjoy ourselves. That means firing up the Smoky Smoker (a commercial grade wood smoker cooker). Since I will not be driving, I would have a few jiggers of rum. With my few friends it was time to eat a selection of smoked meats and taters; with a heavy dose of Texas BS. We cooked extra food to go in quart bags and to be frozen for later months. After dark we did some fireworks, mostly roman candles. (Trees are wet from the rain.) From about a kilometer to the East, somebody shot a small canon a few times. You can feel the resulting pressure wave from the blast. No projectile fired. We all had a good time. completed... read more

Two days before the Polar front ice storm, our weather stations warned us about all time record temperature lows and ice storm that could knock out our electric power for days. (The Texas electrical power grid is not reliable during temperature extremes.) I purchased ten gallons of non-ethanol gasoline for my portable generator for power. I purchased disposable propane bottles for my cook stove and my space heaters. I had plenty of food and water, and was ready to hunker down and stay at home. (What could possibly go wrong?) Day one (Feb. 15): I first got sleet then snow. I lost power in evening and covered up for the night. Day two (Feb 16): I woke to find ice covering my planted conifers damaging them. It warmed up to about 35 degrees F (turning snow ... read more

It was in the summer of 2016 when I visited the Trinidad History Museum and received a great tour. I got entry and a full tour of the Baca House and the Bloom Mansion for free. (Now they have a small entry fee.) I started with the main museum with the exhibits I posted in this blog. The tour of the houses are available with the museum guide only. Outside they have a nice garden where visitors can eat the veggies for free. In the main museum they had a bushel of good apples and invited me to take a bag of apples also free. (They also give to local charities.) My tour guide was a qualified historian that was full of useful information. We started with a tour of the Baca House. Don Felipe de ... read more

The local ABC network from Tyler, Texas gives us news on astrologic events and information when the International Space Station will pass over Tyler. The station generally travels from the NW to the SE. Since Tyler is about 70 miles from Nacogdoches, it arrives about two minutes later to reach my homestead in Nacogdoches County. Cuz of the solar panels on the station, it appears as a bright white light, and is easy to see on a clear night as it cruises overhead. I enjoy watching the space station crossing over my yard. The station crosses the sky in a straight line. In my photos I shoot three second exposures without a tripod so I get interesting results. completed... read more